Are your stats even relevant?

I've been in real estate since 1984. I've seen our association of REALTORS grow from a local board to a regional one.

Now the statistics don't just reflect our market (Florence the county seat) but all the other little rural areas that revolve around it. From Andrews to Wallace, all of these areas are now reflected in our numbers.

STATS FOR THE PEE DEE REGION
SOLD	# SOLD	AVE SOLD $	AVE DOM
June 2011	153	$127,761	170
June 2010	189	$129,622	117
YTD 2011	674	$125,017	145
YTD 2010	864	$128,100	120

What does that really mean to me? If a buyer calls and asks me about a home in Wallace (yes I could google it or mapquest it) and I have never heard of Wallace or (insert the name of any other remote location here) am I truly representing that buyer's best interest by showing him or her a home in a town for which I have absolutely no frame of reference?

Wouldn't that buyer's interest be better served if I referred them to an agent experienced in that particular market?

By the same token, if I get a call from someone considering purchasing an investment property in Darlington, South Carolina, for almost $150,000, in hopes of renting it, and I know the 2010 average home sales price in their area was $115,520, am I representing their best interest by helping them with the transaction?

I think there are agents out there, given today's economy, that will help them buy a house, any house. Tell me, is it just about giving the buyer what the buyer wants? Or is it our responsibility to educate buyers when we think they're making a bad decision?

LIST PRICE: SOLD PRICE: DOM:

HIGH LOW AVERAGE MEDIAN TOTAL PRICE LISTING COUNT $499,000 $13,000 $122,937 $119,000 $10,449,704 85 $455,000 $8,500 $115,520 $114,000 $9,819,273 661 0 107 71